Ted Ginn’s speed makes Ron Rivera go “wow”

Everyone knows Ted Ginn is fast. But Panthers coach Ron Rivera didn’t know just how fast until Ginn got on the practice field in Carolina.

Rivera, whose team signed Ginn as a free agent receiver/return man in March, said he has gained a real appreciation for just how speedy Ginn is now that Organized Team Activities are underway.

“You hear things from the outside about players,” Rivera told the Charlotte Observer. “But then when you see him for yourself, and you sit there and you go, ‘Wow.’ Watching Ted’s speed, his quickness, his route-running – and he’s catching everything right now. So we’re real excited about that, and his potential as far as a return man.”

Ginn, whom the Dolphins selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft, spent three years in Miami and three in San Francisco before arriving in Carolina. He has generally been a disappointment as a receiver, but he has the ability to be a game changer as a return man. The Panthers are hoping he’ll make some plays on offense as the No. 3 receiver, in addition to returning kicks, and Carolina wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl said the Panthers will find ways to make the most of that speed.

“He can really take the top off a defense,” Proehl said. “You don’t find guys like that. They’re hard to find that have that ability to run by people. This league is so talented. You got linebackers that run 4.5s. You got defensive linemen running 4.6s. To find someone with that elite speed is hard, and Ted possesses that kind of speed.”

Ginn didn’t make many “wow” plays in San Francisco last year, but his speed is wowing his coaches in Carolina.

Ginn Jr.’s father is both football and track coach at Glenville High here in OH. His father is extremely well respected and produces real deal athletes who produce…good human beings.
Here’s hoping Ted Jr. finally achieves and gets serious accolades…his dad will be proud…he is already but the titles/awards help

He did a lot of good things as a returner for the #49ers. But as Miami fans know he’s definitely not a receiver. He has straight line speed which is great ONCE he gets going…it’s just getting him to that point. But glad we had him for the couple years we did. Good luck, Teddy!

I hope he does well in Carolina. He had often been criticized for not wanting to take a hit and the speed was never in question; he is fast. Perhaps Steve Smith will spend some time with him if he does indeed need more “toughness”. Carolina has been struggling with wideouts aside from Smith since it seems like the days of Mushin.

Plain and simple… Raw Speed does not always translate well on the field. He was that Draft Year’s: Tavon Austin. However, I think Austin will be better, but not off the charts. Ginn’s did well for the Dolphins on Special Teams and enought for the 49ers to sign him, but he can’t catch as a WR and when he fields KR with traffic coming he constantly chose to avoid contact when he could have atleast 5-10 yds.

I love ted Ginn, In the right place with people who actually treat him right and think he has potential and don’t think oh my god why did they pick him like in miami before he first started maybe he can show his ability like he did at The Ohio State Buckeyes. He does have the ability. Find him the ball he will make some plays

Ginn was fast and ran decent routes with the Dolphins. He could be a very good receiver but he is afraid to take a hit. That resulted in numerous drops and countless times he simply ran out of bounds. If he fixes that and hangs on to the ball better he can be quite dangerous.

Obviously Ginn has had problems. But we don’t need him to be the #1 guy. Steve Smith isn’t going anywhere – and he isn’t getting any worse, either. Nationally, fans have never heard of Brandon LaFell but he is developing into a very capable #2 WR. Some may remember that LaFell dropped to us in the 3rd round because he had a rep at LSU for having stone hands. He did when he got to Carolina, but he’s improving.

So consider – when we have Steve Smith, LaFell, Double Trouble, Greg Olsen and Cam Newton, we don’t need Ted Ginn to carry the offense. If he takes 3-4 kickoffs to midfield and catches a couple of out patterns and scurries out of bounds to avoid a hit, fine. All our other offensive weapons will finish the drives.